Topographic effects on frequency-size distribution of landslides triggered by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018

Abstract This study examined the frequency-size distribution of 6117 landslides spread over 440 km2 in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, induced by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake (M w 6.6) on September 6, 2018. The study area is characterized by gently undulating terrain that is finely di...

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Main Authors: Mio Kasai, Takashi Yamada
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2019-08-01
Series:Earth, Planets and Space
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40623-019-1069-8
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author Mio Kasai
Takashi Yamada
author_facet Mio Kasai
Takashi Yamada
author_sort Mio Kasai
collection DOAJ
description Abstract This study examined the frequency-size distribution of 6117 landslides spread over 440 km2 in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, induced by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake (M w 6.6) on September 6, 2018. The study area is characterized by gently undulating terrain that is finely dissected by shallow streams and covered predominantly by layers of volcanic products with high water content. Most of the landslides were shallow landslides, and their slip surfaces often formed in a layer of volcanic soil called the “Ta-d,” deposited at 9000 ybp. Low ridges separating small catchments allowed individual landslides to coalesce in many locations. The average size of landslides was 7160 m2. Landslide size tended to increase with slope angle up to 20° to 25° and then decrease with further increase of slope angle. About half of the landslides occurred in a feature with both concave planform and profile curvature, and their average size was 8720 m2. In contrast, 17% of the total landslides occurred in the case of both curvatures being convex, and their average size was 5190 m2. The results indicated that the accumulation of saturated soil in concave features provided more opportunities for landslides of large sizes. The frequency-size distribution of the landslides presented high rollover, 5.0 × 10−3 km2, but the exponent of power law decay for medium to large landslides, − 2.46, was not largely different from those of studies in other locations. Compared with other seismically caused examples, the landslides triggered by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake can be characterized as more clustered, more numerous, and larger in size for the moment magnitude of the earthquake. Conversely, the magnitude scale for the landslide event estimated from the total landslide area was equivalent to that of a region struck by an earthquake of M w  = 7.0 to 7.4. This study demonstrated that gently undulating regions can produce unexpectedly large and frequent landslides when struck by an intense earthquake, and when soil layers vulnerable to ground shaking cover the ground.
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spelling doaj.art-b63637a5811046bba4f55ef6826f51642022-12-22T02:44:39ZengSpringerOpenEarth, Planets and Space1880-59812019-08-0171111210.1186/s40623-019-1069-8Topographic effects on frequency-size distribution of landslides triggered by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018Mio Kasai0Takashi Yamada1Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido UniversityResearch Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido UniversityAbstract This study examined the frequency-size distribution of 6117 landslides spread over 440 km2 in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, induced by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake (M w 6.6) on September 6, 2018. The study area is characterized by gently undulating terrain that is finely dissected by shallow streams and covered predominantly by layers of volcanic products with high water content. Most of the landslides were shallow landslides, and their slip surfaces often formed in a layer of volcanic soil called the “Ta-d,” deposited at 9000 ybp. Low ridges separating small catchments allowed individual landslides to coalesce in many locations. The average size of landslides was 7160 m2. Landslide size tended to increase with slope angle up to 20° to 25° and then decrease with further increase of slope angle. About half of the landslides occurred in a feature with both concave planform and profile curvature, and their average size was 8720 m2. In contrast, 17% of the total landslides occurred in the case of both curvatures being convex, and their average size was 5190 m2. The results indicated that the accumulation of saturated soil in concave features provided more opportunities for landslides of large sizes. The frequency-size distribution of the landslides presented high rollover, 5.0 × 10−3 km2, but the exponent of power law decay for medium to large landslides, − 2.46, was not largely different from those of studies in other locations. Compared with other seismically caused examples, the landslides triggered by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake can be characterized as more clustered, more numerous, and larger in size for the moment magnitude of the earthquake. Conversely, the magnitude scale for the landslide event estimated from the total landslide area was equivalent to that of a region struck by an earthquake of M w  = 7.0 to 7.4. This study demonstrated that gently undulating regions can produce unexpectedly large and frequent landslides when struck by an intense earthquake, and when soil layers vulnerable to ground shaking cover the ground.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40623-019-1069-8Frequency-size distributionHokkaido Eastern Iburi EarthquakeShallow landslidesSlope angleSlope curvatureVolcanic soil
spellingShingle Mio Kasai
Takashi Yamada
Topographic effects on frequency-size distribution of landslides triggered by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018
Earth, Planets and Space
Frequency-size distribution
Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake
Shallow landslides
Slope angle
Slope curvature
Volcanic soil
title Topographic effects on frequency-size distribution of landslides triggered by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018
title_full Topographic effects on frequency-size distribution of landslides triggered by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018
title_fullStr Topographic effects on frequency-size distribution of landslides triggered by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018
title_full_unstemmed Topographic effects on frequency-size distribution of landslides triggered by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018
title_short Topographic effects on frequency-size distribution of landslides triggered by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018
title_sort topographic effects on frequency size distribution of landslides triggered by the hokkaido eastern iburi earthquake in 2018
topic Frequency-size distribution
Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake
Shallow landslides
Slope angle
Slope curvature
Volcanic soil
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40623-019-1069-8
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